James Buchanan Jr.
April 23. 1791- June 1, 1868
Political Party: Democrat
Term: 1 term, March 4, 1857- March 4, 1861
Vice President: James C. Breckinridge
James Buchanan became president of our country right before the civil war broke out, and as a result the country was not in good shape at the time. As President, Buchanan did not do anything to make the country better, and only worsened the country during his single term. Buchanan was a poor President not contributing anything positive to the good of the nation, arguably the worst, and because of this should receive the rating of a D minus.
When Buchanan took office, hopes across the country were high that this man would be able to steer the union away from a crisis, saving them entirely from a war. Obviously, this did not work out the way they had planned. Buchanan decided that he did not want to make a decision about slavery as a whole nation, and he thought that individual states and territories should be able to make this decision on their own. He surely accomplished this by never taking sides and leaving this issue alone during his administration. He also decided at the the beginning of his term that he would only serve as President for one term, and obviously kept this promise, especially because the Americans did not want him back for another term. Another goal of his was not to take sides, as not to divide the country any further. He succeeded in this goal, but this may not have been the best option out there. Although staying true to his word, it did not advance the country forward, but rather left it in its poor state, only to fall much farther backwards in the near future.
President Buchanan's relationship with Congress was not very good, as he had many disagreements with them, and they ended up having to compromise. While President Buchanan was in office, the majority party of Congress was mostly Democratic, as was the President himself. During the beginning of his presidency, the majority in both houses was democratic, and during the second half of his term the majority was Democratic in the Senate, but Republican in the House of Representatives. A big decision that Congress made during this time was dealing with Kansas. They eventually ended up compromising and having Kansas re-vote, an idea the Buchanan wanted. During this time, the President was having trouble with member of Congress Stephen Douglas, and they had many arguments, especially about Kansas. Through representing the people, the members of Congress supported their states views about slavery and wanted a decision to be made in their favor. They wanted a conclusion come to about this issue of slavery, and Buchanan was not wanting to make one. Because of this and contributing factors, Congress and Buchanan did not have the best of relationships.
While in office President Buchanan did not really do much that positively affected the country. This being said, the least negative decision was not permanantly siding with the South and making all of his other decisions just trying to make them happy. Had he permanantly supported the South, nothing from then on would have gone the way it did. This was obviously a good decision even though he may not have known this at the time he made it. As later proven, the South eventually is beaten and slavery is done with once and for all. Although he may not have known at this at the time, it was actually a good decision by him that had the least negative effect on the country. The most negative decision he made during his administration was giving his support to the Lecompton plan. The Lecompton plan was the constitution for Kansas that was supported only by a minority of proslavery whites. Later in Congress, Senator Stephen Douglas announced that he was strongly opposed to this plan and was going to do something to change it. Eventually, they compromised on holding a conventtion in Kansas where they would re-vote on this issue. It ended up that Kansas was admitted as a free state. Although this decision may have turned out alright, it was a bad decision by Buchanan and did not gain him much support from the American people at all.
The Presidency of James Buchanan obviously affected the American people and the American Presidency directly after he left office. The decision he made that most effected the people and President to come was his decision not to take sides or make any big decisions on the issue of slavery. Had he made any decision on this, especially if it had been a really good one, he could have possibly stopped our country from entering a civil war. Although most of the effects from his presidency came directly after him for President Lincoln, he let the country get much worse eventually leading to the civil war. It is obvious that our country would be much different if it had not been for the civil war, and some of this blame can be placed onto Buchanan's shoulders. This being said, it was partly Buchanan's fault that a civil war occured, and not taking any steps to stop it is what he did that had the most effect towards the future of the country.
James Buchanan was highly intelligent and a great politician, but in truth he just wasn't a good enough President to help the country at the time. The country was not in all that good of shape when he entered office, but he just kept making it worse in the decisions that he made. When he left office the country was about to enter a civil war, which is a terrible state for a country to be in. Had he been President at a different time, Buchanan may have been a good President, but as the facts stated above explain, he was not a good President at the time. Considering all of these decisions, it is clear that President Buchanan should not be rated highly, and these facts lead to the decision that Buchanan earns a D minus for his time in office.
President James Buchanan
James Buchanan Jr.
April 23. 1791- June 1, 1868
Political Party: Democrat
Term: 1 term, March 4, 1857- March 4, 1861
Vice President: James C. Breckinridge
James Buchanan became president of our country right before the civil war broke out, and as a result the country was not in good shape at the time. As President, Buchanan did not do anything to make the country better, and only worsened the country during his single term. Buchanan was a poor President not contributing anything positive to the good of the nation, arguably the worst, and because of this should receive the rating of a D minus.
When Buchanan took office, hopes across the country were high that this man would be able to steer the union away from a crisis, saving them entirely from a war. Obviously, this did not work out the way they had planned. Buchanan decided that he did not want to make a decision about slavery as a whole nation, and he thought that individual states and territories should be able to make this decision on their own. He surely accomplished this by never taking sides and leaving this issue alone during his administration. He also decided at the the beginning of his term that he would only serve as President for one term, and obviously kept this promise, especially because the Americans did not want him back for another term. Another goal of his was not to take sides, as not to divide the country any further. He succeeded in this goal, but this may not have been the best option out there. Although staying true to his word, it did not advance the country forward, but rather left it in its poor state, only to fall much farther backwards in the near future.
President Buchanan's relationship with Congress was not very good, as he had many disagreements with them, and they ended up having to compromise. While President Buchanan was in office, the majority party of Congress was mostly Democratic, as was the President himself. During the beginning of his presidency, the majority in both houses was democratic, and during the second half of his term the majority was Democratic in the Senate, but Republican in the House of Representatives. A big decision that Congress made during this time was dealing with Kansas. They eventually ended up compromising and having Kansas re-vote, an idea the Buchanan wanted. During this time, the President was having trouble with member of Congress Stephen Douglas, and they had many arguments, especially about Kansas. Through representing the people, the members of Congress supported their states views about slavery and wanted a decision to be made in their favor. They wanted a conclusion come to about this issue of slavery, and Buchanan was not wanting to make one. Because of this and contributing factors, Congress and Buchanan did not have the best of relationships.
While in office President Buchanan did not really do much that positively affected the country. This being said, the least negative decision was not permanantly siding with the South and making all of his other decisions just trying to make them happy. Had he permanantly supported the South, nothing from then on would have gone the way it did. This was obviously a good decision even though he may not have known this at the time he made it. As later proven, the South eventually is beaten and slavery is done with once and for all. Although he may not have known at this at the time, it was actually a good decision by him that had the least negative effect on the country. The most negative decision he made during his administration was giving his support to the Lecompton plan. The Lecompton plan was the constitution for Kansas that was supported only by a minority of proslavery whites. Later in Congress, Senator Stephen Douglas announced that he was strongly opposed to this plan and was going to do something to change it. Eventually, they compromised on holding a conventtion in Kansas where they would re-vote on this issue. It ended up that Kansas was admitted as a free state. Although this decision may have turned out alright, it was a bad decision by Buchanan and did not gain him much support from the American people at all.
The Presidency of James Buchanan obviously affected the American people and the American Presidency directly after he left office. The decision he made that most effected the people and President to come was his decision not to take sides or make any big decisions on the issue of slavery. Had he made any decision on this, especially if it had been a really good one, he could have possibly stopped our country from entering a civil war. Although most of the effects from his presidency came directly after him for President Lincoln, he let the country get much worse eventually leading to the civil war. It is obvious that our country would be much different if it had not been for the civil war, and some of this blame can be placed onto Buchanan's shoulders. This being said, it was partly Buchanan's fault that a civil war occured, and not taking any steps to stop it is what he did that had the most effect towards the future of the country.
James Buchanan was highly intelligent and a great politician, but in truth he just wasn't a good enough President to help the country at the time. The country was not in all that good of shape when he entered office, but he just kept making it worse in the decisions that he made. When he left office the country was about to enter a civil war, which is a terrible state for a country to be in. Had he been President at a different time, Buchanan may have been a good President, but as the facts stated above explain, he was not a good President at the time. Considering all of these decisions, it is clear that President Buchanan should not be rated highly, and these facts lead to the decision that Buchanan earns a D minus for his time in office.
Works Cited:
"35th United States Congress - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 22 Oct. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35th_United_States_Congr
"36th United States Congress - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 22 Oct. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/36th_United_States_Congress>.
"American President: James Buchanan." Miller Center of Public Affairs. 22 Oct. 2009 <http://millercenter.org/academic/americanpresident/buchanan>.
"American Presidents: Life Portraits." American Presidents: Life Portraits. 22 Oct. 2009 <http://www.americanpresidents.org/presidents/president.asp?PresidentNumber=15>.
"Biography of James Buchanan." Welcome to the White House. 22 Oct. 2009 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesbuchanan/>.